[Steve Eisenberg]

The real scandal is the long delay in FDA approval of new drugs.

I agree. On this I am a libertarian. I would rather that my physician, in consultation with my family, be free to use whatever drugs (excluding those illegal due to abuse) he sees as best.

There also is a scandal in drugs being taken off the market by the FDA because some patients died from them, even though they are needed by certain other patients to live. My wife's father, an intelligent man, has been having trouble with diabetes control since a drug he used to take was removed from the market. Why shouldn't he and his doctor be free to judge the risks and benefits themselves?

[Timesink]

There also is a scandal in drugs being taken off the market by the FDA because some patients died from them, even though they are needed by certain other patients to live. My wife's father, an intelligent man, has been having trouble with diabetes control since a drug he used to take was removed from the market. Why shouldn't he and his doctor be free to judge the risks and benefits themselves?

Generally, such drugs continue to be marketed overseas, and I'm pretty sure it's legal for you to import any non-FDA-approved medication from another country as long as you're only ordering enough for your own use.

[thucydides]

I understand the horrible Thalidomide itself, which caused birth defects, is the ideal drug for certain conditions, provided pregnant women are not involved. It was the failure of the FDA to act on Thalidomide that put them in the position of being able to endlessly delay everything. In a bureaucracy, approval of anything that turns out to have problems is bad. Endless delays that kill thousands are just fine, because there are no visible victims that can be identified.